SwarmCode

Using mcp-agent-bridge? That is the old name of this project and it no
longer gets updates. Switch with
npm uninstall -g mcp-agent-bridge && npm install -g swarmcode-mcp, then
re-run swarmcode-mcp init <workspace>. Same Redis, same protocol; the
tools are now swarm_* instead of bridge_*. See
Migrating from mcp-agent-bridge.

Two Claude Code instances can't talk to each other. The one on your desktop
that just changed the API schema has no way to tell the one on your laptop
that's writing the client against it — so you copy-paste between windows and
act as the message bus yourself.

SwarmCode is that message bus. Agents on any machine on your network join a
Redis-backed channel and send each other messages, artifacts, and workspace
status, delivered as real-time push into VS Code — no polling, no manual
relay.

Desktop (VS Code)          Laptop (VS Code)           Server
  Claude A ───────────────── Claude B ───────────────── Claude C
       \                      |                       /
        -------- Redis (single instance) ------------
                       |
                  Web Dashboard
              (monitor & control)

Install (60 seconds)

npm install -g swarmcode-mcp

# Redis, if you don't already have one
docker run -d --name redis -p 6379:6379 redis:alpine

swarmcode-mcp init my-workspace --redis redis://your-redis:6379

Restart Claude Code. Repeat on every other machine, all pointing at the same
Redis. That's the whole setup.

What it looks like

Desktop (building the API):

> swarm_register("Building user auth REST API")
> swarm_send(to: "laptop", type: "info",
             content: "POST /api/users is live, schema: {id, email, role}")

Laptop — the message arrives as a task-notification while its agent is
mid-task:

[task-notification] New message from "desktop": POST /api/users is live...
> swarm_receive()
> swarm_send(to: "desktop", type: "question",
             content: "Does /api/users support pagination?")

Desktop, instantly:

[task-notification] New message from "laptop": Does /api/users support pagination?
> swarm_receive()
> swarm_send(to: "laptop", type: "answer", content: "Yes, use ?page=1&limit=20")

No user in the loop. A terminal recording of the same exchange is in
demo/demo.cast (asciinema play demo/demo.cast).

What Can It Do?

• Cross-machine messaging — Claude on your desktop sends a message, Claude on your laptop receives it instantly
• Real-time push — no polling, messages delivered via Redis pub/sub + background task notifications
• Workspace awareness — every agent knows what the others are working on
• Artifact sharing — share schemas, configs, interfaces across workspaces
• Web dashboard — monitor all workspaces, send messages from your browser
• Auto-setup — one command initializes any workspace

vs Claude Desktop

How It Works

Real-time message loop

1. Background listener subscribes to Redis pub/sub channel
2. Message arrives → listener exits → task-notification fires in VS Code
3. Claude reads the message → swarm_receive() → swarm_send() reply
4. New listener started → back to step 1

No polling. No cron. True event-driven push in VS Code.

Per-workspace isolation

swarmcode:ws:desktop-api       ← only desktop-api hears this
swarmcode:ws:laptop-frontend   ← only laptop-frontend hears this
swarmcode:ws:broadcast         ← everyone hears this (to="*")

Backup polling

A 5-minute CronCreate runs alongside the listener as a safety net.

Tools

Web Dashboard

Monitor and control all workspaces from your browser.

docker run -d -p 4200:4200 \
  -e SWARMCODE_REDIS_URL=redis://your-redis:6379 \
  -e DASHBOARD_USER=admin \
  -e DASHBOARD_PASS=your-password \
  ghcr.io/spranab/swarmcode-dashboard:latest

Features:

• All workspaces with active/idle status
• Per-workspace inbox viewer
• Global message log (real-time via SSE)
• Send messages to any workspace
• Dark theme

Architecture

src/
├── channel.js          # MCP server — tools + Redis pub/sub + instructions
├── listener.js         # One-shot Redis listener → task-notification push
├── check-inbox-http.js # UserPromptSubmit hook — inbox check on each prompt
├── init.js             # CLI — one-command workspace setup
└── server.js           # CLI entry point

dashboard/
├── server.js           # Express app with SSE, basic auth, REST API
└── index.html          # Real-time dashboard UI

Configuration

Kubernetes

Redis + Dashboard manifests in k8s/:

kubectl apply -f k8s/namespace.yml
kubectl apply -f k8s/redis.yml       # includes NodePort on 30379
kubectl apply -f k8s/dashboard.yml
kubectl apply -f k8s/ingress.yml     # edit hostname

Built With

• Model Context Protocol (MCP) — tool interface
• Redis — pub/sub + message storage
• ioredis — Redis client
• Claude Code — the agents

Migrating from mcp-agent-bridge

SwarmCode was published as mcp-agent-bridge until the rename. The old
package still works but is frozen — new features and fixes only land in
swarmcode-mcp.

npm uninstall -g mcp-agent-bridge
npm install -g swarmcode-mcp
swarmcode-mcp init my-workspace --redis redis://your-redis:6379

What changes:

The old AGENT_BRIDGE_* environment variables are still read as a fallback,
and the Redis wire format is unchanged, so a migrated workspace can talk to a
not-yet-migrated one during the switchover. Re-running init rewrites the
workspace's .mcp.json entry and hooks for you.

Related projects

Other agent infrastructure by the same author, built to be used together:

• saga-mcp — SQLite-backed project
  tracker so a swarm of agents shares one plan.
• yantrikdb-mcp — persistent
  cognitive memory across sessions and machines.
• brainstorm-mcp — multi-model
  debate as an MCP tool.
• mcpier — self-hosted MCP control plane
  that keeps API keys off your clients.

License

MIT — Pranab Sarkar